Major League Baseball finally joins the creator economy

Lip readings of closed-door offseason meetings are about to go crazy: Major League Baseball has acquired an equity stake in Jomboy Media, the pair announced this week, in what’s believed to be the league’s first direct investment in a creator-led content company.

Deal terms: MLB receives a minority stake with no editorial control or oversight, while Jomboy gets access to league and team IP for content, sponsorship, and merch purposes.

• The size of the investment was undisclosed, though Jomboy says no new capital was pumped into the company, just used to buy out existing investors.
• The media brand, which last year generated 93 million content engagements and $10M in revenue, previously raised a funding round of $5 million led by Connect Ventures, whose cofounder was instrumental in getting this most-recent deal done, Sportico reports.

The move marks a 180 for the league, which has been criticized for being more restrictive with its digital rights compared to peer sports like the NBA. It wasn’t until 2019 that MLB players were allowed to post their own highlights on social media.

Meanwhile…MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said this week that he wants to reach a deal on reselling the league's media rights that were abandoned by ESPN before July's All-Star Game. TV ratings are up so far this year, according to data from broadcast partners.